News 13:00

BULLETIN 8 April 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Tshwane is unaware of an application for the planned Justice for Cwecwe protest
# The US defends its tariffs on remote islands of penguins and seals
# And rugby: Welsh and Lions flyhalf Dan Biggar will retire at the end of the season

# The City of Tshwane says it has not received an application for a protest over the alleged rape of a seven-year-old girl, Cwecwe, in the Eastern Cape. Justice for SA has planned a series of marches in various cities across the country today. The alleged rape of the minor has ignited outrage over systemic failures in handling the case involving the child. Despite widespread protests, Tshwane authorities say they are unaware of any planned shutdown in the metro and cautioned that unapproved gatherings may face legal consequences.

# ActionSA says it will not give any consideration to proposals regarding the government of national unity until the VAT increase and income tax bracket creep have been resolved. According to media reports, one of the suggestions that have come out of the ANC’s National Working Committee meeting on Monday is to reconstitute the coalition government to include ActionSA. The party’s spokesperson, Matthew George, says they have received no communication from the ANC in this regard:

# Eastern Cape premier, Oscar Mabuyane, has expressed concern at the ramifications which the new US tariffs will have on the provincial economy. The US has imposed a 30-percent tariff on all goods entering the country coming from South Africa. Mabuyane says the impact of these tariffs could severely affect Eastern Cape exports, particularly in the automotive and citrus sectors. He adds they are working closely with the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber to develop responsive strategies including diversifying trade partnerships:

The US Commerce secretary has meanwhile defended the country’s decision to impose tariffs on a group of uninhabited islands with only penguins and seals. Howard Lutnick told CBS the imposition of tariffs on the Heard and McDonald islands were meant to close ridiculous loopholes and would prevent other countries from shipping through the islands to reach the US. Authorities in Australia were surprised about the tariffs on the islands, which sit four-thousand kilometres from the countries. Shipping products through one port to another in a process known as transshipment is common in global trade.

# Rugby: Former Welsh and British and Irish Lions flyhalf Dan Biggar will retire at the end of the current season. The 35-year-old will finish his career at French club Toulon. Biggar scored 633 points in 112 Tests for Wales from 2008 to 2023, and was also part of the Lion’s tours of 2017 to New Zealand and 2021 to South Africa. Biggar says there comes a point when you just know it’s time to quit, and now is the time for something new.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 19-rand-50-cents and the euro at 21-rand-31-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-83-cents and Bitcoin trades at 78-thousand-994-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-996-dollars-12-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 63-dollars-96-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….